Liberal Enlightenment and What Lies Beyond: A Conversation with Spencer Hess (Video)

This is a conversation I recently had with Spencer Hess, a friend of mine and an urban farmer in the Kansas City area. It revolves around topics like Enlightenment liberalism/neoliberalism and its legacy, weaknesses, strengths and future. We discuss Naomi Klein’s critique in “No Logo” of neoliberal commodity fetishization in the form of brand-attachment, McKenzie Wark’s idea that “Capital is Dead,” and also the the idea of seceding from the system and Rod Dreher’s “Benedict Option.” Along the way, Spencer talks about what it’s like to try to start up an urban farm in an economy that doesn’t favor such things, and how the pandemic situation may affect our perceptions of what’s practical when it comes to how we get our food.